The computer game that destroys your files

Lose/Lose is the sort of computer game most people will be too afraid to install. In fact, I was slightly nervous just watching the online video (below). From the website: "Lose/Lose is a video-game with real life consequences. Each alien in the game is created based on a random file on the player's computer. If the player kills the alien, the file it is based on is deleted. If the player's ship is destroyed, the application itself is deleted."

If you think they're kidding, the game reinforces the message at the title screen in large red capital letters. Only the brave, or those playing on someone else's computer, should continue. Gameplay resembles a classic top-down shoot-em-up, with aliens racing down towards your tiny intergalactic ship, menacing yet vulnerable to your pew-pew laser. Each alien destroyed explodes into tiny bits, which seems appropriate. You aren't even told which file you just killed &ndash; only the file extension gives any indication.

But it's not all digital nihilism. The aliens never actually attack, so there is really no impetus to kill them or your Windows system files. In fact, the higher purpose of the game is to prompt a bit of introspection: "By way of exploring what it means to kill in a video-game, Lose/Lose broaches bigger questions," the game developers say. "As technology grows, our understanding of it diminishes, yet, at the same time, it becomes increasingly important in our lives. At what point does our virtual data become as important to us as physical possessions?"